Workplace Gateshead is delighted to present the first public exhibition of selected works from The Founding Collective.

Started in 2002 in London by a group of art professionals and families interested in living with contemporary art The Collective is a growing network of groups collecting, sharing and enjoying contemporary art in their homes or places of work. The combined collection of The Founding Group now comprises over 60 original and limited edition works by emerging and established artists.

Founding members of The Collective will give an informal introduction to the history of the group, how it works, how it expanded and plans for the future. This will be followed by an open discussion chaired by WORKPLACE directors Paul Moss and Miles Thurlow focusing on the importance of collecting contemporary art, how to make a start regardless of budget, and the challenges and opportunities for new collectors in the North of England.

The exhibition and development opportunity is for three artists who are within 10 years of establishing their practice and will enable them to make and exhibit new work with curatorial and practical support from the three participating organisations. The selected artists will present work as it develops through three exhibition moments, taking the form of a group exhibition at Jerwood Visual Arts and WORKPLACE along with a solo show for each artist at Eastside Projects.

Artists are asked to propose how, through this initiative, current research and ideas will evolve and materialise. Proposals should identify how this opportunity will impact artist’s professional development and enable a breakthrough in their practice. The exhibitions should be viewed as an opportunity to experiment, and make ambitious and compelling ideas a reality.

The selection will be made by: Kelly Best, Artist and 2015 3-Phase exhibitor; Paul Moss, Co-Director, WORKPLACE; Gavin Wade, Director, Eastside Projects and Sarah Williams, Head of Programme, Jerwood Visual Arts. Artists will be selected based on the quality and potential of their work and the developmental impact the opportunity is likely to have upon their practice.

3-Phase is open to artists resident in the UK who are in the process of establishing their career. Artists must not have commercial gallery representation or have presented a major solo show in the UK. The objective is to select one artist from the Midlands, one from the North, and one from across the UK, responding to the remits of the three participating organisations and allowing for a broad peer group to form and circulate.

Artists will be selected based on the quality and potential of their work and the developmental impact the opportunity is likely to have upon their practice. There is no application fee to apply. This unique collaboration highlights the benefits of artists and organisations working together as part of a national dialogue; constructing a space of encounter between the thinking of selected artists and supporting arts organisations around the developing bodies of work.

3-Phase is a partnership between Jerwood Charitable Foundation, WORKPLACE and Eastside Projects.

3-Phase is a new model for working in partnership to support the development of early career artist’s work over a sustained period of time. The three artists will be selected to develop a series of new work with the curatorial assistance of each organisation, which will tour to each partner location. The project was first trialled in 2015 through the Jerwood Encounters series, working with artists Kelly Best and Georgie Grace. www.jerwoodvisualarts.org/exhibitions/jerwood-encounters-3-phase/

Jerwood Visual Arts is a national programme supporting visual arts practice, through which Jerwood Charitable Foundation works with early career artists to commission and present new work. Artist opportunities run throughout the year alongside a programme of related exhibitions, events and commissioned writing, taking place online, in London and across the UK. We advocate for the best possible conditions for the making of art by providing well-resourced opportunities for artists, supported by our staff team and established artists, writers, critics and curators who have a significant national or international profile. www.jerwoodvisualarts.org

Jerwood Charitable Foundation is dedicated to imaginative and responsible revenue funding of the arts, supporting artists to develop and grow at important stages in their careers. The aim of its funding is to allow artists and arts organisations to thrive; to continue to develop their skills, imagination and creativity with integrity. It works across art forms, from dance and theatre to literature, music and the visual arts. www.jerwoodcharitablefoundation.org

WORKPLACE is a contemporary art gallery founded in Gateshead in the North of England in 2002, and with a gallery in Mayfair, London since 2013. Originally situated far from any of the UK’s major cultural centres, the Gallery has worked intensely over the past decade to access the international artworld. With the objective of working with artists to achieve critical acclaim, WORKPLACE has become an important and integral part of the UK’s cultural landscape through a respected programme of exhibitions, taking part in the leading international art fairs, and long-term partnerships with highly esteemed international artists and galleries. Growing out of an artist-led Northern English art scene, WORKPLACE aims to combine a progressive, countercultural spirit with an independent D.I.Y. attitude, connecting to a new generation of artists, collectors and curators worldwide. WORKPLACE GATESHEAD opened in 2005 at 34 Ellison Street, Gateshead – part of Trinity Square Shopping Centre particularly noted for its iconic Brutalist car park which featured as a key location in the 1971 cult british gangster film ‘Get Carter’ starring Michael Caine. Since the complex was demolished in 2008, WORKPLACE Gateshead has been located at The Old Post Office in Gateshead – a 19th Century Grade 2 listed building built upon the site of the important 18th century British artist, engraver, and naturalist Thomas Bewick’s studio and residence. www.workplacegallery.co.uk

Eastside Projects makes art public. It is an artist-run multiverse, commissioning, producing and presenting experimental art practices and demonstrating ways in which art may be useful as part of society. Eastside Projects provides vital infrastructure, supports best practice and works to expand the role of the artist-run space. Alongside imagining, testing and modeling a free public gallery, it is increasingly engaged in an expanded range of public activities – it devises public art strategies, serve as commissioning agents, produce national public art programmes and create structures to support artists locally, nationally and internationally. It does not make art for the public, it is the public that makes art. Eastside Projects is an artist-run space as public gallery, a Not for Profit Company Limited by Guarantee Reg: 6402007 and an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation, in partnership with Birmingham City University. Established in 2008. eastsideprojects.org

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Workplace Gallery is a contemporary art gallery run by artists.
Based in Gateshead UK, Workplace Gallery represents a portfolio of emerging and established artists through the gallery programme, curatorial projects and international art fairs.